Content demands context; the writing’s on the wall

I’m obsessed with street art. But it strikes me that unless you get the mix of content and context right, it’s just noise.

The power of truly great street art – think Banksy, Faile or Shepard Fairey  – is when content and context comes together and it communicates something. It resonates, it has meaning beyond the message in the visual.

It’s the same with brand communications. If you want to create, lasting connections you need to get the right balance.

Today with every business transforming, getting it right can be challenging. How do you make sure the message matches the medium given the increasingly fractured media landscape and shifting consumer expectations?

One thing you can and need to do is bring them closer together. It’s why M&C Saatchi recently bought Bohemia.

It’s madness in today’s digital world where everything operates at warp speed that we separate creative from media, strategy and buying. It just doesn’t make sense.

Bohemia has developed a solid reputation for analysis of real time customer intelligence. They understand the customer journey and all the points where that customer might interact with a brand. They can tell where it makes most sense to reach out to them. And the sorts of content that gets the best reaction. They do it all in a transparent way backed by real time data. They’ve got context covered.

At M&C Saatchi we are driven by creative. We craft the messages that tell our client’s stories in an authentic way and establish a bond of trust between consumer and brand.

Now we’re bringing them together. The message and the medium. The art and the science  – all backed by real time analytics and transparency.

However we’re not tightly integrating the two elements. We want the loose coupling between media and creative. It lets us stay nimble and respond to shifts in technology or consumer expectations much faster.

Internally M&C Saatchi operates as a confederation of entrepreneurial businesses. We’re an ecosystem that thrives on creative collaboration.

Every part of that ecosystem works with clients to ensure the best outcomes for their customers, which in turn guarantees clients’ (and our) success. Bohemia is now part of that highly sustainable ecosystem.

The goal we’ve set is to be the most influential creative company by 2020. Yes, it’s audacious but we believe achievable. The Bohemia team, their smarts, our collective creative depth and experience can combine to continually ramp up the impact we can have for clients.

This industry is undergoing profound transformation. Our clients and their customers similarly are facing unprecedented change.

Companies that cling to the status quo are at risk. The writing’s on the wall.